STAMFORD -- The Future Global Leaders Award program is giving high school students in Fairfield county the opportunity to gain leadership qualities, learn about global issues and win a $10,000 merit scholarship, said Dr. Lori Murray, a World Affairs Forum board member.

"This program's main focus is to motivate high school students to excel in leadership and gain interest in global issues," said Murray. "I think it will really help students meet the challenges of understanding the global economy in the 21st century."

The Academy of Information Technology and Engineering, King Low Heywood Thomas, Stamford High School and Westhill High School are all participating in the Future Global Leaders Award Program. The program, which is supported by Pitney Bowes and IBM, was created in September by the World Affairs Forum and joined by educators and businesses wanting to reward young leaders in Fairfield County who have demonstrated a commitment to understanding global issues, said Murray.

At the end of the 2008-'09 school year, principals from each high school will choose one Future Global Leader from the junior class, who will be given a certificate of award from the World Affairs Forum and will be eligible to win the $10,000 merit scholarship for college.

The World Affairs Forum will use the same criteria for the merit scholarship that the high schools will use to determine each Future Global Leader, said Murray. The criteria will be based on the student's interest in global issues, the student's ability to address innovatively problems with global impact, his or her demonstrated leadership in related extracurricular school activities with an international focus and the student's demonstrated ability to serve as a role model in the school community. In addition to this criteria, each Future Global Leader Award recipient must forward a principal's recommendation, a 500 word essay on global issues, and a completed application form to the World Affairs Forum at the end of their junior year for the scholarship.

"This criteria is really the key to preparing students to become the best leaders they can be," said Murray. "Over the course of the past year, we have been getting feedback from schools about this program criteria and this is a combination of what everyone came up with."

According to Paul Gross, Principal at The Academy of Information Technology and Engineering, this program is a wonderful chance for students to pay attention to what is going on around them. "This program is very useful to Stamford high schools students,' said Gross. "It is important to realize what is going on beyond the Stamford community and even beyond the United States, students should focus on what is happening in the world."

Rodney Bass, the principal of Stamford High School, said the program is a good way of getting students to remember what they learn.

"This is a hands on way of getting students involved in world affairs," said Bass. "It gives students incentive and will teach them tools they will need as leaders in the future. I am excited to be involved in this program."

The Future Global Leaders from each participating high school will be announced in May of 2009 and the $10,000 Merit Scholarship recipient will be announced and honored in Oct. 2009.

"I think that the students who participate in this program should be seen as role models for younger students in the high school," said Murray. "This is a new program and after this first year I think students will become more and more interested in participating in it."